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June 2010

ASTRONOTES
Incorporating FRIENDS' NEWSLETTER Fire in the sky: the Aurora The LHC: a cause for conCERN? The sky this month It's a small world after all Astronauts looking into Atlantis

ARMAGHPLANETARIUM


2 Astronotes June 2010

Fire in the sky: the Aurora
By Sinead McNicholl, Education Support Officer If you are standing looking up at the sky in Canada, Alaska or in Norway on a clear dark night you may see a bright reddish or greenish band of light that stretches from east to west across the sky. This amazing natural light show has fascinated mankind for millennia and people will even travel thousands of miles just to catch a glimpse of it. Those living north of the Arctic Circle have a front row seat to this phenomenon, which is of course the aurora. An aurora is a natural display of light in the sky that can be seen with the unaided eye only at night. In the northern hemisphere it is known as aurora borealis (the Northern Lights). Its name comes from the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. In the southern hemisphere this spectacle is known as aurora australis (the Southern Lights). The word australis in Latin means "of the south". Aurorae are the most visible effect of the Sun's activity on the Earth's atmosphere, and are evidence that the Sun and Earth are connected by more than just sunlight. The occurrence and frequency of the Northern Lights depends on the activity of the Sun, which has an eleven year cycle. The displays are linked with the solar wind, a continuous flow of electrically charged particles from the Sun. These particles travel through space and if they reach the Earth's magnetic field they travel towards the magnetic poles (the North and South Pole) colliding with oxygen and nitrogen molecules along the way. When a large number of these fast-moving collisions occur, it produces enough light for the eye to detect, and appear as coloured dancing streaks or arcs of light across the sky. Aurorae are more frequent and brighter during an intense phase of the solar cycle when coronal mass ejections or solar flares increase the force of the solar wind. The next solar peak is estimated to occur in 2011 and 2012, so opportunities to see aurorae outside their normal range should be good.

"Aurorae are the most visible effect of the Sun's activity on the Earth's atmosphere"
The aurora can be seen in a multitude of colours from reds and greens to purples and blues. The colour is dependant on whether it is molecules of oxygen or nitrogen that are being excited. Oxygen emits a green or red light and these are the most familiar colours of the aurora. Nitrogen creates a display of blue light and if these gases blend then we see a display of purples, pinks and even white light. As well as the unique colours, the aurora also has unique shapes. The shape can look like a curtain of colour which seems to bend and bounce in the sky. Undulating ribbons of light may shimmer in the sky for hours with the altitude of its lower edge 100 to 112 km (60 to 70 miles) above the earth. Or the aurora may last 10-15 minutes, twisting and turning in patterns called "rayed bands", then whirling into a giant green corona in which rays appear to flare in all directions from a central point, and finally fade away. The oldest recorded sighting of the aurora was in 2600 BC in China. Throughout history many cul-

Image Credit: NASA

Ghost in the sky An amazing image of the curtain effect of the Northern Lights in Alaska.


June 2010 Astronotes 3 tures have had their own interpretations of what these strange lights in the sky are. The eruptions of colour have driven folklore, created mythological creatures and have influenced the course of history, religion and even art! The Finnish name for the Northern Lights is `revontulet' meaning `fox fires', which comes from an old tale where a fox runs across the mountains beating his tail against the snow, sending sparks into the sky. For the Vikings the appearance of the aurora was a reflection of ghosts whilst the Germans called them "heaven light". The Inuit people believed that the strange sky visions were walrus spirits playing with human skulls or were the flaming torches carried by departed souls guiding travellers to the afterlife. In central and southern Europe the light display is rarely visible and the main colour of the lights is strong red which was looked upon as a sign of forthcoming war or other atrocities. The Native American Tlingit in Alaska viewed the eerie sight as the dancing spirits of the deceased. The northern lights are at their most dazzling from December to March when nights are longest and the sky is darkest. The best time to observe is the hours right before and after

Aurora from space An image taken from a Space Shuttle showing the aurora in Earth's atmosphere. midnight. Usually an east to west curving arch first forms in the sky after which the lights begin to shift like ribbons dancing in the wind. If you are lucky the play of lights will end with a breathtakingly beautiful corona. A corona is the most impressive shape formed by the Northern Lights: there is a clear centre point from which rays form a crown shape above the viewer. As auroral

" This amazing natural light show has fascinated mankind for millennia"
activity increases, the aurora not only increases in brightness, but it also tends to move further towards the equator. People in the northern United States and northern Europe may see the aurora a few times in a decade, while people in southern Europe, the southern United States, and even Mexico, may see the aurora only once in a lifetime. In fact Northern Ireland last experienced the northern lights back in 2005! To learn more about this marvel NASA launched the Polar spacecraft in 1996 to obtain data from the Earth's Poles. The spacecraft collects images of the aurora in action and studies how the solar winds from the Sun interact with the Earth. Using this data perhaps we can learn more about these events as we still have some unanswered questions such as why there are different shapes and does the display of lights create any sound? One day we will have the answers, but for now we can sit back and enjoy the show as the aurora is most definitely a truly awesome phenomenon, and is just one more example of the majestic beauty of our Universe!

Red sky at night Red aurorae are unique and quite beautiful.

Image Credit: NASA

Image Credit: NASA


4 Astronotes June 2010

It's a small world after all
By Martina Redpath, Education Support Officer Russian cosmonaut Vitali Sevastyanov (19352010), who flew on the Soyuz 9 and Soyuz 18 missions was asked by ground control whilst in orbit what he could see and he replied, "Half a world to the left, half a world to the right, I can see it all. The Earth is so small." To see the Earth from space is a spectacular sight viewed only by an exclusive minority of the population. Many missions both manned and unmanned have travelled beyond the planet into the void of space and looked back upon the Earth. The majority of travellers venturing outside of our planet have viewed it only from low orbit as is the case for astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Only 24 men have viewed the Earth from outside low orbit as they journeyed to the Moon on the Apollo missions of the late 1960s and 1970s (nine missions, each with a crew of three went to the Moon but three astronauts, Lovell, Young and Cernan flew on two different Apollo missions). For all of those lucky men and women who have travelled great distances away from our planet, what was it like to look back at Earth? Low Earth Orbit (LEO), that is, up to heights of 2500km (1553 miles) above the Earth's surface, is where most artificial satellites circle the planet including the ISS which is located about 350km (218 miles) above the Earth. The Space Shuttle too is a low orbit vehicle and is used to travel and carry loads to and from the ISS. In low orbit, astronauts onboard the ISS are only able to view part of the Earth at a time. Despite only being able to view small sections of the Earth at once, sightseeing onboard the Space Station would be extremely rewarding. With the recent installation of the cupola on the ISS, astronauts are treated to a better view of the Earth. From this unique window astronauts can also witness shuttles docking with the station as well as serving as the main location for control of the Canadarm2, the 60-foot (18m) robotic arm attached to the Space Station.
Image Credit: DMSP and NASA

The light fantastic Europe and Northern Africa at Night, Can you spot the River Nile? From the ISS evidence of human activity is visible, at night cities can be easily spotted from the light pollution they create. Even during the day from low orbit, cities, major roads, dams and reservoirs can be seen. Humanity's imprint on Earth is varied but allows observers in space to view man-made things in wonder.

"Only 24 men have viewed the Earth from outside low orbit"
One common belief of viewing the Earth from space or the Moon is that certain man-made objects are clearly visible. The Great Wall of China is often thought to be so large that it is the only object visible from the Moon. However this has become a space-based myth, generally it is very difficult to spot the Great Wall with the naked eye even from the ISS in LEO, never mind the moon! The material the wall is built with is very similar in colour and consistency to the surrounding land, making it quite difficult to observe this famous landmark. This theory of being able to view the Great Wall from the moon is thought to have originated in the late 1930s, however when astro-


June 2010 Astronotes 5 on the Apollo 15 mission, described the Earth as appearing fragile and delicate, "as we got further and further away, it [the Earth] diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. Seeing this has to change a man." Canada's first female astronaut, Roberta Bondar (b.1945) travelled into Space on mission STS-42 in 1992, she said "To fly in space is to see the reality of Earth, alone. The experience changed my life and my attitude toward life itself. I am one of the lucky ones." It is very difficult for the human brain to understand the huge numbers needed to explain the sheer size of the Universe. The realisation of this occurred for the Apollo 11 astronauts when they stood on the moon and blocked out the entire Earth with their thumb. It didn't make them feel like giants but as Neil Armstrong described "very, very small." To experience the wonder of the Earth from space allows humans to witness the beauty in our universe. However, we don't all need to leave the planet to appreciate the natural beauty of our home. The planet Earth is saturated with wonderful awe inspiring sights, so take a little time out of your busy schedules to appreciate the gift from Mother Nature.

Image Credit: NASA

Recent addition to the International Space Station Cupola over looking the Sahara desert. naut Alan Bean (b. 1932) travelled to the moon in 1969 on the Apollo 12 mission he said "no man made object is visible at this scale." In 2003, Yang Liwei (b. 1965), China's first astronaut has said although the scenery was beautiful he did not see the Great Wall. Those men who have travelled into the realm of space often have had quite profound realisations when seeing their home planet. James B. Irwin (1930-1991) the 8th man to walk on the Moon

The June night sky
By Mary Bulman, Education Support Officer There is little real darkness at this time of year but that does not mean that stargazers need to feel deprived. In fact it can be a blessing in disguise as a bright sky hides the fainter stars, making it easier to recognise the patterns of the constellations. The night sky is always an interesting spectacle no matter what time of year. As the evenings and nights will be warmer (hopefully) why not have a midnight picnic, recline on your deck chair and view the heavens. You may even see Comet McNaught in the predawn sky if you are a real enthusiast with staying power. Reporting on planetary action this month, Mars, Venus, and Saturn continue to be on view in our evening sky. On 6 June, Mars will sit less than a degree from Regulus. Note Mars' reddish colour in contrast to the bluish-white of Regulus. On 11 June, Venus will lie in a line directly to the west of the twins Castor and Pollux. By 14 June Venus will be a bit higher than the stars and a crescent moon will have joined the scene. Saturn can be seen in the southwest in the head of Virgo. If you are a night owl Jupiter rises around 2 am at the beginning of the month but two hours earlier by the end of the month.

"The summer solstice is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere"
There are a number of very bright sparklers visible in the June sky. Among them are the old favourites of Castor and Pollox in the northwest. Capella, the `little she-goat' is still there in the northern sky. The eastern sky is dominated by the Summer Triangle of three bright stars,


6 Astronotes June 2010 Altair in the constellation of Aquila, Vega in the constellation of Lyra, and Deneb, the brightest star in Cygnus, the swan. Vega is the highest and brightest of these three stars. The Summer Triangle is easily seen in the night sky all through the summer and into the autumn, a bit like Orion in the winter.

"In Victoria, Australia there is what could be considered a mini-Stonehenge."
June has the shortest nights of the year, culminating in the summer solstice which occurs on 21 June, at 11.28, to be precise. This is a very important day for our planet and its relationship with the Sun. June 21 is one of two solstices, days when the rays of the Sun directly strike one of the two tropical latitude lines. The summer solstice occurs when the Earth reaches the point in its orbit where the Sun stands over the Tropic of Cancer, its farthest journey north. The tilt of the Earth's axis is what causes the Sun not to be continually stationed above the equator. This is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, marking the beginning of summer and simultaneously heralds the beginning of winter in the southern hemisphere where it is the shortest day. Although in astronomical terms the summer solstice indicates the beginning of summer it is often associated with midsummer's day. The reverse is the case for the winter solstice, when the Sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn around 21 December. The Druids, Babylonian and ancient Egyptians worshiped the Sun and always made a big fuss over the summer solstice. Many ancient monuments were built for tracking the movements of the Sun, especially the timing of the solstices. Stonehenge, as you probably know, is an arrangement of colossal stones in an upright position. What you might not know is that the circle of stone megaliths opens up in the direction of the midsummer sunrise. What you almost certainly do not know is that there is growing evidence that the Aboriginals of Australia were familiar with the solstices and built monuments associated with these events.
Image Credit: NASA

Imaging the solstices from space The images show the amount of sunlight that is reflected from the Earth as measured by the CERES instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. In Victoria, Australia there is what could be considered a mini-Stonehenge. The Wurdi Youang stone arrangement in the Geelong-Bacchus Marsh region was built by the Wathaurung people, thousands of years ago. This egg-shaped ring of stones, about 50m across is built in an East-West alignment. At the Western end, at the highest point of the circle, are three large waisthigh stones. Ray Norris, an astrophysicist from CSIRO has done extensive research on Aboriginal astronomy. He believes that some outlying stones to the West of the circle, as viewed from these three stones, indicate the setting positions of the Sun at the equinoxes and solstices. We shouldn't be amazed at this discovery - people all over the world have used the constellations and movement of the planets to track the passage of time for thousands of years. Continuing with the Aboriginal theme a few stellar stories come to mind. Astronomy functioned partly as a calendar, as a means of survival and as a way of passing on traditions and moral codes. The stories of the Aboriginals reflect their everyday life. The kangaroo and the boomerang are central to their lives. To the Boorong people


June 2010 Astronotes 7 questioned how the Moon got in the sky. Astronomers and scientists have various theories on this subject. One Aboriginal story from Cape York provides us with the answer and also with a lesson in compassion. Long ago the people met to discuss the problem of the night darkness. Stumbling round in nocturnal confusion was a major hassle for man and animal. After much debate it was agreed that a special boomerang should be made and put in the sky to take over `light' duties when the sun went underground. The boomerang was made and all the strong men lined up to fling it into the sky. After many unsuccessful attempts at launching it a frail old man asked if he could have a go. Everyone laughed but a wise elder said he should be allowed a chance. To everyone's surprise and delight the weak old man sent the boomerang high into the sky and it is still there. The shape of the boomerang can be seen in the Moon every month. The starry sky and the stories it inspires are invariably fascinating. I have found the Aboriginal perspective particularly intriguing. I hope it has inspired you, the reader to look at the night sky and if you are already a dedicated stargazer maybe you will see something different in the familiar heavens.

Image Credit: via wikimedia.org

Starry Night If my article hasn't inspired you to look at the night sky maybe this painting by Van Gogh will. of Victoria the star we call Capella, is called Purra and represents a kangaroo. Two hunters, Wanjel and Yuree, known to us as Castor and Pollux, are chasing Purra across the sky. It is interesting that single stars represent people and animals in Aboriginal celestial lore. In Greek mythology this is rare, an exception being The Pleiades, where a star represents each sister. The Boorong called Sirius Warepil and it represents the male Wedge-tailed Eagle. Rigel in Orion, is known as Collowgullouric Warepil, the wife of Warepil, and represents the female of the species. Arcturus represents a wise old woman and the three stars in Orion's belt are three fishermen. (See the April issue for details). The Moon has been the inspiration for many myths and legends. Every child I know has

Moon Phases June 2010
Friday 4 June Saturday 12 June Saturday 19 June Saturday 26 June Last Quarter NEW MOON First Quarter FULL MOON

CERN and the LHC: What are they?
By Tracy McConnell, Education Support Officer We here at the Planetarium have in recent months been playing the show "We are Astronomers." This is a beautiful show narrated by David Tennant, best known as "Dr Who", which illustrates to the public what astronomers do in today's society.


8 Astronotes June 2010 In the show we are introduced to a particular scientific endeavour at the CERN institute called the Large Hadron Collider. After seeing this show and being approached by members of the public, I admitted to myself that, although I had heard of both CERN and the LHC, I had never understood what they really were. So I set out to educate myself on this subject and upon completing my research, decided to share what I had learned with all of you. Some people assume that CERN and the LHC are the same thing but this is not true. CERN stands for Conseil EuropÈenne pour la Recherche NuclÈaire (European Council for Nuclear Research) and was established by eleven European governments in 1952. The convention was signed by these countries on 29 September 1954, and was designed to set up a laboratory for shared research. After the signing, the council was dissolved and the Organisation EuropÈenne pour la Recherche NuclÈaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research) was created, although the original acronym of CERN was retained. Stargate CERN? Installing the ATLAS calorimeter (the circular shaped object at the back of the detector being slid forward into place). This will measure the energy of the particles that are produced due to collisions of protons. You might just notice the man standing in the bottom of the image to give an idea of scale. in opposite directions, up to 11 000 times per second, until they reach 99.9999% of the speed of light. Then the two beams collide head-on, eventually reaching 600 million collisions per second at ultimately 7 tera-electronvolts, TeV (3.5 TeV per beam). What is the meaning of this techno-babble? One electron volt is the amount of energy the particle gains when accelerated across an electric field of 1 volt, a TeV is a trillion electron volts. Seven tera-electron volts may sound scary, but imagine half a dozen thistle seeds gently floating through the air. If all of them landed in the palm of your hand at once, the impacts would release about 7 TeV of energy. In each collision in the LHC the impacting particles create new particles which spray out in all directions. By tracking and studying these new particles we can learn wonderful and interesting things about our Universe, and possibly confirm some current theories in physics. Even today the Universe holds many unanswered questions. Roughly 14 billion years ago the Universe exploded into life in an event known as "the Big Bang". The LHC experiments are an attempt to recreate conditions similar to those in existence just seconds after the Big Bang, in order to help us learn about the building blocks of matter. This does not mean that the scientists are trying to re-create the Big Bang. If you have heard of the Large Hadron Col-

"the World Wide Web was originally devised at CERN"
The laboratory is based on the French/Swiss border and today is usually referred to as the "European Laboratory of Particle Physics" as it is mainly a place for study of high-energy particle physics. The organisation has also contributed to general public life. For instance, the World Wide Web was originally devised at CERN to enable scientists to share information and results. Today the CERN institute continues to explore our understanding of science and the Universe. The controversial Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is one apparatus used by CERN which has attracted a lot of public attention. The LHC is an underground tunnel, 27 km (16.7 miles) in circumference, which crosses the border between France and Switzerland. It is designed to accelerate two beams of 100 billion protons (a hadron is a collective name for certain particles which include protons and neutrons)

Image Credit: CERN


June 2010 Astronotes 9 "There are no reasons for concern. Whatever the LHC will do, Nature has already done many times over during the lifetime of the Earth and other astronomical bodies."

"the path to scientific enlightenment is not always a smooth one"
Sadly the path to scientific enlightenment is not always a smooth one. The LHC has experienced a lot of problems. On 10 September 2008, after 20 years of preparation, the LHC was switched on for the first time. The start was promising, with both clockwise and counter-clockwise proton beams being established in a matter of hours. However by 19 September 2008, there had been a major machine failure in one of the tunnel sections, (sector 3-4). An electrical interconnection between two superconducting magnets had melted and compromised the surrounding chamber. This enabled the liquid helium (which was keeping the system super cooled at -270° C) to damage the magnet, which in turn caused a chain reaction effecting 53 of the 1232 dipoles which make up the LHC machine. This damage required lengthy (and expensive) repairs which were completed on 7 July 2009, and progress was finally made with numerous records being set over the following months. On 30 November 2009 twin proton beams accelerated and circulated around the collider up to 1.18 TeV energies, making the LHC the world's highest energy particle accelerator. By 18 December 2009 successful collisions were recorded at 2.36 TeV (1.18 TeV per beam), setting a new world record. The real success came earlier this year. On 19 Mar 2010, 3.5 TeV beams were successfully circulated around the LHC, and plans were made for the date of the highest recorded energy collisions to date. On 30 Mar 2010, the CERN control centre was buzzing with anticipation as they prepared for their first collisions of 7 TeV (3.5 TeV per beam). The cheers and excitement were infectious, as each of the four detectors successfully recorded 7TeV collisions. So having completed its initial aim of 7TeV collisions, the future holds much excitement as
Image Credit: CERN

One ring to rule them all Here is a map showing the position of the LHC and its detectors along the French/Swiss border. lider (LHC), chances are it was related to the spectacular suggestion that, if turned on, this "machine" would bring about the end of the world by creating a black hole and thus sucking us all into oblivion.

"There have been terrifying suggestions of the harm the LHC could cause"
There have been lots of terrifying suggestions as to what harm a successful LHC may cause; from the creation of micro-blackholes (not the kind formed by a collapsing star at the end of its life which are explained in my article "Black holes for beginners" in the October 2009 issue of Astronotes) to creating vacuum bubbles (hypothetical globs of total nothingness that would expand to engulf everything- you, me, the Earth, the Milky Way and so on) or the possibility of a runaway fusion reaction spreading through the atmosphere. The LHC Safety Assessment Group (LSAG) has completed an updated review of "whatever" may be created in such high-energy particle collisions. (A previous analysis was made in 2003 by a group of independent scientists, the LHC Safety Study Group.) According to the LSAG


10 Astronotes June 2010 In order to do this the LHCb will look at the differences between matter and antimatter by studying a type of particle known as the "beauty quark". The LHC will produce different types of quark particles during collisions, and in order to catch the beauty quarks specifically, the LHCb experiment has movable tracking detectors. Instead of an enclosed detector like the other experiments, LGCb has sub-detectors stacked one behind the other over a distance of 20 m (66ft). The Compact Muon Solenoid, CMS, experiment is searching for the Higgs Boson particle, also known as the "god particle" (mentioned in the 2009 movie "Angels and Demons" with Tom Hanks based on the book by Dan Brown), which is responsible for all particles having mass. This particle was proposed by Peter Higgs, Francois Englert and Robert Brout in 1964. Their theory states that all particles acquire their mass by interacting with the Higgs field which is carried by the Higgs boson. It has never been observed experimentally, as it decays too quickly into its constituent particles. We should be able to observe it in the high energy collisions expected in the LHC.

Image Credit: CERN

The Tunnel Under the World This is a photo of part of the underground tunnel. The tunnel is 27km (16.7 miles) in circumference and is buried 50m to 175m (165 ft to 575 ft) below ground. scientists begin to analyse the data from these and future collisions. We know that the LHC is designed to reproduce the conditions that existed moments after the Big Bang, but what will this actually tell us? What are we really looking for? Let's start by looking at the experiments which are going on. There are four main detector experiments located around the LHC tunnel. Each one is designed to answer a different question, or investigate a different property related to the moments after the Big Bang.

"What happened to all the antimatter in the early Universe?"
The Large Hadron Collider beauty, LHCb, experiment is hoping to answer the question "What happened to the antimatter?" Widely known from "Star Trek", anti-matter is a sort of opposite of the ordinary matter which makes up you, me and the planets. Matter and anti-matter coming into contact would be rapidly converted into vast quantities of energy (in other words explode!) Prior to the Big Bang, it's thought that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were squeezed into an infinitesimally small space. Immediately after the "bang" the Universe expanded and cooled rapidly and, only 1 second after the Big Bang, the antimatter had mostly disappeared, leaving only matter (which later formed the Universe that we know).

"To observe gluons we need temperatures 100 000 times hotter than the core of the Sun"
The "A Large Ion Collider Experiment", ALICE, is hoping to re-create a form of matter called the quark - gluon plasma which existed just after the Big Bang. This matter is a "liquid" state as the Universe at this time was still incredibly hot. The plasma will be observed as it expands and cools in order see the subsequent creation of particles that make up matter today. Each atom contains a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks, which are held together by gluons. To be able to observe quarks and gluons, we would need temperatures nearing 100 000 times hotter that the core of the Sun. Collisions between lead ions in the LHC will generate these kinds of temperatures and scientists hope in these conditions


June 2010 Astronotes 11 that the protons and neutrons will "melt" and separate the bonds between the quarks and gluons. The "A Toroidal Lhc ApparatuS" or Atlas experiment, is looking at the basic forces which have acted on our universe since the Big Bang. It is searching for the origin of mass (Higgs-Boson), extra spatial dimensions, dark matter, microscopic black holes and a unifying theory of forces. Do you think they may be a tad overly ambitious? As well as the four dimensions ~(three spatial, one temporal) we know about, string theory predicts the existence of six more. If these do exist, the LHC may be able to detect them. At the high energies involved in the LHC experiments, physicists may see evidence of particles moving between our world and the other dimensions. The particles would suddenly disappear into an extra dimension, or suddenly appear in ours. This sounds like science fiction but is the kind of phenomenon which Atlas will be looking for.

Crash! On 30 March 2010, the LHC achieved 7 TeV collisions. Here is an image taken from one of the computers of a 7 TeV event, with to two inelastic proton-proton collisions (pile up). Rather than just sharing information, this system allows scientists to share computer power and memory and RAM as well. This essentially converts your average PC network into a "supercomputer". Even though about 99% of the data collected from the LHC will be discarded after an initial check, the remaining 1% will require at least 100 000 computers to analyse. "The Grid" may well result in a leap in science as groups work together to share knowledge and resources and results very quickly. It may even turn out to be as revolutionary as the Internet was (also designed by CERN). The Grid is currently the largest network in the world, consisting of 250 centres in 45 countries linked together by high speed fibre optic cables. Who knows what great revelations about our Universe may be uncovered thanks to this amazing project? It's definitely one I plan on keeping a close eye on. Further reading http://www.lhc.ac.uk/ http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHc/Safetyen.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/mar/29/ lhc-launch-live-large-hadron-collider http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci//tech/7543089/ stm http://angelsanddemons.cern.ch/

"the particles would suddenly disappear into an extra dimension"
One of the big fears with regard to the LHC was the possibility that at such high energies, it may be able to generate mini-black holes. However as the LSAG, LHC Safety Assessment Group, has reassured us, any that are created will dissipate quickly and be of no risk (many years ago that clever Professor Hawking showed that small black holes rapidly evaporate into nothingness). This is another thing the Atlas experiment will be on the look-out for. You may well realise that the LHC and its detector experiments will be recording an astronomical quantity of data (no pun intended), approximately 0.5 GB every second, which means filling a 100GB hard drive in under four minutes (it took me four months to fill mine with movies and music). Overall they expect 15 million GB of data a year to be generated. Our standard computer networks simply can't deal with this amount of data. In order to cope with this CERN has developed a specialist LHC Computing Grid (LCG).

Image Credit: CERN


12 Astronotes June 2010

Image of the Month

On the most recent mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis the six-member crew unloaded a crucial communications antenna, power storage batteries and a radiator during their rendezvous with the orbiting International Space Station. The Shuttle returned back to Earth on Wednesday May 26 2010 marking the final space flight of its 25 year-long career. During its quarter century in action Atlantis has logged a total of 120 million miles (193 million km). During one of the space walk ventures astronauts Michael Good (left) and Garrett Reisman (right) took some time out to look through the shuttle's flight deck. During the spacewalk, Good and Reisman completed the installation of the final two of six new batteries for the port solar array. They also installed a backup jumper cable between the port trusses of the station and transferred a power and data grapple fixture

from the Shuttle to the station. Sadly the US Space Shuttle program now has only two remaining missions, one by Discovery in mid-September and the program's final mission by Endeavour at the end of November. However Atlantis will not be sent to the hangar just yet. The Shuttle may be called into action in the event of an emergency if any problems develop with the last two intended Shuttle missions. Atlantis will be outfitted with a fresh fuel tank and boosters to act as a mission-ready rescue vehicle should it be required. Once the Shuttle program ends, the United States will rely on Russian Soyuz rockets to carry its astronauts to the ISS until a commercial US spacecraft and launcher are developed, which is scheduled for 2015. (Caption by Sinead McNicholl, Education Support Officer)

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Image Credit: NASA